Company | RJ Reynolds, 1980-1991

From 1980 to 1991, RJ Reynolds paid its Hollywood public relations agency up to $200,000 a year, plus expenses, to run a product placement program and other promotions in the entertainment industry. [1]

In 1990, when Congress began to examine tobacco placement in U.S. movies, Reynolds and its PR agency shifted product placement activities offshore, offering the agency’s London-based office as much as $8,200 in bonuses for each film in European distribution that displayed an RJ Reynolds tobacco brand. [2] U.S.-produced films dominate movie screens in Europe.

Note 2 | Two “consulting agreements” between RJ Reynolds Tobacco International and Rogers & Cowan International for 1990-1991 and 1992.

Note 3 | The Federal Trade Commission told Congress in 1996, “No expenditures have been reported in this category [“endorsements and testimonials”] since 1988.” However, RJ Reynolds was paying Rogers & Cowan to obtain placement for its brands in the U.S. and Europe through 1992; and American Tobacco operated its product placement program through UPP into the spring of 1994.

Reynolds American absorbed RJ Reynolds in 2004. British American Tobacco owns a controlling 42 percent interest in Reynolds American. Reynolds American acquired Lorillard in 2015.